Form And Function

Library's Success Built On Planning

July 18, 1989|By MARK ST. JOHN ERICKSON Staff Writer

VIRGINIA BEACH — More than a year and a half after the city's central library opened, Carolyn Barkley still is surprised by the number of people who come through its doors. The librarian counted more than 400 patrons during the first six minutes of one typically busy Sunday. And more than 3,200 people for the rest of the four-hour day.

She and the library's other planners - city Library Director Martha J. Sims and architects Laszlo Aranyi and Richard Fitts - expected to see big numbers. But not quite as big as this. The building averages 10,000 patrons a week and served more than a half-million people in its first year. It registered nearly 50,000 new card holders after predicting less than half that figure. Eager readers still sign up at the rate of more than 2,300 a month.

"We knew we'd be busy," Barkley says. "But we didn't know we'd be this busy. If we suffer from anything, it's success."

The popularity of the $8.4 million, 95,000-square-foot building at 4100 Virginia Beach Blvd. is due in part to some of its special features. It boasts a room full of computers and printers for public use. Another public area bristles with typewriters. Videos and cassettes make up an important part of the library's diverse collection.

But much of the library's success can be attributed to the strengths of the building. It offers a classic example of what can happen when architecture does its job well.

From the outside, the long horizontal expanse of burnt brick and white concrete grabs the eye with a bold, sweeping series of clerestory windows. Its distinctive profile has become a landmark on Virginia Beach Boulevard - a favorite sight for both architects and laymen.

Inside, the efficient, flexible floor plan offers ease of use and an unexpectedly open, airy feeling. Bathed in natural light from the high windows, the first floor stacks and glass-railed mezzanine unfold in a spacious, logical and pleasing visual progression. You can see almost every section of the building when you stroll through the entrance. And you can find almost any of the library's 190,000 volumes easily if you follow the simple, well-placed signs.

It's a far cry from many traditional libraries, where harsh lighting, cramped conditions and confused traffic patterns often confound the patron. But it might not have turned out so well without extensive planning.

The librarians hashed out much of what they wanted before the design work began. They deliberated over every facet of the proposed operation, ranging from a basic philosophical definition of the central library's mission to the number of pushcarts it would need to process new books. That gave the project an important head start.

The staff's input continued to be important after the architects began their work. Sims joined Aranyi for trips to Toronto, Dallas, California and North Carolina, where they took a look at several recently designed major urban libraries. What they discovered was surprising. One building, for example, was thoughtfully divided into many different departments but didn't have the staff required to man all the resulting service desks. Several other libraries were seriously hurt by inadequate or confusing signs.

"When it got to the end of the building process and the money ran out, signage always seemed to suffer," Sims says. "So people didn't know what to do or where to go after the library opened."

Such observations played a key role in developing an open, straightforward floor plan that could be taken in immediately and served by a relatively small, centralized staff.

Other design goals emerged as the planning process advanced. Lighting and energy costs were expected to be major expenses, so the architects responded with a series of high clerestory windows designed to bring natural light in.

Flexible space was another priority, resulting in the choice of an in-floor electrical system, easily changed modular furniture and minimal use of structural columns and walls. Signs and graphics were revised as many as seven times.

"What we found as architects was that there was no end to the details," Fitts says. "Once you get serious - and the staff gets involved - you spend hours and hours developing and refining your plans."

Marketing factors also played an important role in the design. The library staff members and the architects wanted a building that would cut a distinctive figure in the crowded visual hodgepodge of Virginia Beach Boulevard. Part of its success, in fact, was to be measured by its ability to grab the eye and lure potential patrons.

Everyone also recognized the structure's importance as an emblem of the city. Libraries traditionally are one of the most visible and heavily used city services, Fitts says, and they tend to make strong statements about where the community's tax money goes.